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House Republicans will hold a press conference on January 6 on the “illegitimate” House committee investigating last year’s US Capitol siege, shortly before the panel will present its findings in a prime-time hearing.
The committee will hold its first public hearing Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. On Wednesday, the GOP leadership of the House of Representatives announced it would hold a media event Thursday morning to discuss the “partisan” panel. The press conference will be attended by Republicans who were selected for the committee by California House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, before withdrawing his selection after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, rejected two of his elections.
“The GOP leadership of the House of Representatives will hold a press conference tomorrow, Thursday, June 9, at 11:30 a.m. ET at the Capitol Visitor Center to discuss Speaker Pelosi’s illegitimate and partisan committee,” Republicans announced in a press release. “Other attendees will include House Republican leader McCarthy, who was selected to serve on the special committee that Speaker Pelosi rejected, breaking centuries of precedent.”
In addition to McCarthy, Republican Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York, the press conference will be attended by all five members of the Republican House that McCarthy recommended for serving on the committee — Jim Banks of Indiana, Jim Jordan from Ohio, Kelly Armstrong from North Dakota, Rodney Davis from Illinois and Troy Nehls from Texas.
Pelosi declined to include Banks and Jordan over concerns that the congressmen, both of whom voted Jan. 6 to disallow Electoral College votes for President Joe Biden, could “compromise the integrity of the investigation.” McCarthy then withdrew all of his recommendations.
The only Republicans on the committee are Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — both known critics of former President Donald Trump, whose supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 to overturn the 2020 election results.
During an interview with Fox News, a network that will not air the committee hearing in prime time, Stefanik touted Republican counter-programming as a “backlash against lame Speaker Pelosi’s fake political witch hunt.”
“House Democrats have shamelessly prepared a prime-time, courtroom-style drama for the American people that doesn’t address any of the important issues,” Stefanik wrote in an opinion piece published by the conservative newspaper The daily caller on Tuesday. “Emotionally filled partisan topics of conversation will drown out legitimate questions.”
Meanwhile, the Jan. 6 committee pledged to “present previously unseen material” and “to provide the American people with a first summary of its findings on the coordinated, multi-pronged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the.” to prevent transfer of power” during the hearing on Thursday.
The hearing will include testimony from US Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being attacked by pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol, and filmmaker Nick Quested, who filmed the riot . The committee is also expected to preview upcoming hearings that have not yet been formally scheduled.
news week reached out to a spokesman for the committee on Jan. 6 for comment.
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